The Tulane Green Wave have seen many former athletes compete in the Summer Games, but they're set to see their first alumnus in the Winter Olympics.
The Tulane Green Wave saw three former athletes compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics, with several more heading to the summer games over the last few decades. However, there was no known alumnus to quality for a Winter Olympics until this most recent one. Former Green Wave track and field athlete Jared Firestone is set to make history this week when he competes in the second for Israel at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games. Skeleton originated in 1928. It is quite a demanding Olympic event as a high-speed sliding sport where the athletes face headfirst, face down on a small sled around an ice track – and can reach speeds over 80 mph.
Firestone graduated from Tulane in 2012, and it the school’s first known alumnus to quality for the Winter games. He was a four-year member of the track and field team between 2008 to 2012 and set the team’s best time in the 100 meters every season he ran for the school. In two of his seasons, he also had the team record in the 200 meters. Firestone ranked No. 18 in Conference USA in the 100 meters his senior year, but his best time was a 10.72 mark as a freshman. He hit his PR in the 200 meters his junior season at 22.39
“The foundation for my work ethic began at Tulane,” said Firestone. “Waking up at 6:00 a.m. to lift weights, going to class, followed by grueling track workouts in the New Orleans heat helped shape my mindset for pushing myself to work, fundraise, train, and of course slide down ice tracks at 85 mph all at the same time to achieve this goal.”
Firestone didn’t discover skeleton, however, until after graduating and going through some health issues. He attended Yeshiva University for law school after graduating in 2012 from Tulane but suffered a minor stroke in his first semester. While recovering, the 2014 Winter Olympics were on, and Firestone discovered his new dream: skeleton. He went on to complete his studies and is now a licensed attorney in New York and Florida while also working to complete his Olympics dream.
Firestone has been a self-funded athlete in pursuit of his dream, earning multiple medals in various competitions. That included the nation’s first gold in an Olympic sliding sport, when he won a gold in the North American Cup. Firestone now is one of 25 athletes to qualify for the men’s skeleton in the 2026 Olympic Games. He will compete twice this week, becoming the first known Tulane graduate to participate in the Winter Olympics. He will first race on Thursday, Feb. 12 at 2:30 am CT, followed by his second heat on Friday, Feb. 13 at 12:30 pm CT. Both will stream on NBCOlympics.com and Peacock.